After a successful 4 week run in the US in June with MR BIG, MATT STARR has announced the tour shows for the rest of the year. The tour is in support of the new record of MR BIG “Defying Gravity” which Matt Starr played on. The album was released on July 7 via Frontiers Music Srl, Produced by Kevin Elson (Journey, Lynyrd Skynyrd). “Defying Gravity” debuted #1 in Japan, and in the top 10 on the international charts, top 20 in the US.
MATT STARR Touri Dates With MR BIG:
August 17 – Manaus, Brazil 19 – Sao Paulo, Brazil 19 – Matt Starr/Billy Sheehan Workshop School Of Rock Brazil 20 – Belo Horizonte, Brazil 22 – Porto Alegre, Brazil 24 – Montevideo, Uraguay 26- Santiago, Chile 27 – Buenos Aires, Argentina
29 – Lima, Peru
31 – Bogota, Colombia
September
2 – Mexico City, Mexico
20 – Sapporo, Japan
22 – Ishikawa, Japan
24 – Nagoya, Japan
26 – Tokyo, Japan (The Budokan, filming DVD)
28 – Tokyo, Japan
29 – Sendai, Japan
October
1 – Osaka, Japan
2 – Kita, Japan
3 – Fukuoka, Japan
5 – Hiroshima, Japan
8 – Seoul, S Korea
10 – Taipei, Taiwan
12 – Manilla, Phillipines
13 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
15 – Singapore
26 – Hamburg, Germany
27 – Eindhoven, Netherlands
29 – Cologne, Germany
31 – Stockholm, Sweden
November
1 – Gothenburg, Sweden
3 – Drammen, Norway
4 – Helsingør, Denmark
6 – Paris, France
7 – Pratteln, Switzerland
9 – Barcelona, Spain
10 – Madrid, Spain
12 – Milan, Italy
13 – Cologne, Germany
14 – Munich, Germany
16 – Nottingham, England
17 – Newcastle, England
19 – London, England
21 – Manchester, England
22 – Glasgow, Scotland
23 – Wolverhampton, England
MR.BIG have announced full format details and a slightly delayed release date for their new album, ‘Defying Gravity’, pushing it back from the previously announced street date of 7th July, via Frontiers Music.
The album will be available on CD, LP, deluxe CD/DVD, digitally and a deluxe Collector’s Edition box set that includes : deluxe CD/DVD, LP, poster, numbered lithograph, T-Shirt, sticker. The box set is strictly limited to 500 copies worldwide. See artwork below.
The CD and LP contain the following tracklisting :
Open Your Eyes / Defying Gravity / Everybody Needs A Little Trouble / Damn I’m In Love Again / Mean To Me / Nothing Bad (About Feeling Good) / Forever And Back / She’s All Coming Back To Me Now / 1992 / Nothing At All / Be Kind
The DVD contents are :
Defying Gravity [music video] / Everybody Needs A Little Trouble [music video] / Making of
Defying Gravity / Making of Everybody Needs A Little Trouble / Track by track interview. Total length is approximately 65 minutes.
The first video from the new record, for ‘Everybody Needs A Little Trouble’, was made availableon 5th June and can be seen below. The group are currently on tour in the US and are planning European dates in the autumn.
More informations on ‘Defying Gravity’:
“OK, we’re rolling.” With those three declarative words (spoken by producer Kevin Elson right after the music kicks in on ‘Open Your Eyes’, an instant callback to the beginning of ‘Addicted to That Rush’, the hard-charging lead track on the band’s self-titled 1989 debut), Mr. Big plants the flag between past, present and future with ‘Defying Gravity’, the band’s ninth original studio album.
Recorded in just six days at Ocean Studios in Burbank, California, the album reunites Mr. Big with the aforementioned Elson (Journey, Europe, Lynyrd Skynyrd), who is back behind the boards for the first time since helming the band’s first four albums. ‘Defying Gravity’ deftly showcases that patented Mr. Big blend of crunch and melody, from the freight-train ride of opening cut ’Open Your Eyes’ to the harmony-laden wonderment of ‘Damn I’m In Love Again’ to the nostalgia trip of ‘1992’ (recalling the days when the band was flyng high atop the singles charts with their international smash ‘To Be With You’) to the barnstorming slide-blues closing track, ‘Be Kind’. Overall, the album is prime evidence that the only thing Mr. Big remains tethered to is their ongoing pursuit of achieving creative excellence.
“It’s inspiring to work with Mr. Big,” observes guitarist/songwriter Paul Gilbert, who penned much of the material on the new album. “I know that any ideas I bring into the studio have to go through our long-established band filter, which means the songs all have to rock, have melody, and put a grin on the faces of all of my bandmates to make the final cut.” What that means is Gilbert, lead vocalist Eric Martin, bassist Billy Sheehan and drummer Pat Torpey all have to agree collectively on the finished product — as does touring drummer Matt Starr, who also joined in on the studio proceedings this time around.
That tried-and-true “all for one, one for all” mentality is one of the main things that fuels Mr. Big to reach for new heights whenever they are recording. “That’s what makes a band a band,” believes Torpey. “I think we all feel that way. It’s not one guy’s vision that the other guys all just follow. We’re always kicking ideas around to come to some kind of consensus. And that makes Mr. Big music what it is.”
Adds Sheehan, “I like recording with a sense of urgency. Put a mic in front of us, roll tape, and that should sound like what you’re hearing from us live. When you can create that kind of pressure in the studio in a short amount of time, it makes for better songs — and better performances.”
Once Martin got in sync with Gilbert, the album took shape in a relatively short amount of time. “My music tells you more about me than I can actually tell you myself,” the vocalist admits. “And ‘Defying Gravity’ is about ignoring everybody in life who tells you it can’t be done; that it’s impossible to do what you love. You have to stand your ground whenever someone tells you to give up your dream to do anything your heart desires — whether it be as a musician, painter, dancer, or whatever you want to be — in favour of a life that’s safe and conventional.”
To a man, Mr. Big couldn’t be more pleased to be working with Elson again. “Kevin Elson is really good at steering the ship through rough waters and making it seem like they’re not rough waters,” Gilbert notes. “He’s a very even-keeled guy — mellow, but he still gets it done.” Concurs Sheehan, “It was glorious and fantastic. Kevin creates an atmosphere of ease and creativity. He’s full of so many ideas. Really a wonderful man.” Torpey adds. “We’ve got a lot of history with him. He’s a great guy, super-talented. It’s not like having a dictator for a producer, just somebody who barks commands. He’s got so much experience, history and pedigree — and he’s also a really good friend, so the vibe in the studio was perfect.” Sums up Martin, “I always loved Kevin because of his musical sense, and I love singing in front of him. Kevin has a different approach that’s more cerebral. He has a lot of ideas like a musician and a songwriter would. Kevin’s a huge piece of our recording puzzle. He’s a musician’s friend. He gets good sounds, and I trust his insight and his criticism. Kevin has the golden touch, and he knows how to make great voices sound even greater.”
One of the key tracks on the album, ‘1992’, hearkens back to the glories of much headier days for Mr. Big – albeit with tongue planted firmly in cheek. “That was an incredible period in our lives, right when the rumblings of grunge were starting to happen,” Gilbert points out. “So here I am writing about and tweaking something that was so positive in just about every way, but it did open the world to us. Suddenly, we were playing stadiums in Indonesia, just going all over the place. And to this day, whenever we start a tour, we end up going all around the world. That whole era, back when we all still had giant hair(!), really opened the door for us. Thankfully, people still gravitate toward the underlying thing that is still important, and that’s the music.”
Sheehan adds his own spin: “It’s a song about its own history. It reminds me of Deep Purple’s ‘Smoke on the Water’, a song where a band looks back and talks about how it all went down in a clever way. And ‘1992’ certainly pops for me from a philosophical point of view.” Muses Torpey, “Who would have thought we would actually be talking about something like this 25 years later? But I’ve had those thoughts myself. It’s really interesting to reflect back like that and actually have it come out in a song. It’s an epic kind of song that’s got the classic rock stuff, the crazy guitar-and-bass stuff, and the big vocals from Eric. It’s a Mr. Big song, no doubt.”
Speaking of the band’s inherent instrumental virtuosity, there is plenty of it on display during the middle section of ‘Mean to Me’, where Paul and Billy trade a score of hot licks back and forth. “That song came about very quickly,” Gilbert reports, “and the solo was a first take with no overdubs at all; it was done live with the band. The delay I used helped make it twice as fast, but you still have to be dead-on accurate, and play the notes super-staccato so that it doesn’t get sloppy. Billy, however, does it all for real where no effects were necessary. He battles my technology-aided solo with the pure fire from his hands.” Observes Torpey, “The songs themselves are always important, but we always want to come up with the right vehicle to have some gymnastics between those twin towers of rock, Billy and Paul. That’s a big part of what we do, and we utilise it. I hope the fans like it.”
Martin is proud that ‘Defying Gravity’ showcases the best of what Mr. Big has to offer. “There’s something about this band. We’ve been through a lot of stuff together,” he notes, “but there’s a spiritual bond we all share, no matter what. And that raises you up to give the best performance you can for a record that came together so quickly, like this one did.” Adds Sheehan, “This record really seems to fit in with some of my favourite times in music, which were right around ’68 to ’74. The other thing is, Mr. Big is really a singing band, and I love the fact we have that here with the background vocals we were able to add to some of the songs.”
For his part, Gilbert is very much looking forward to bringing ‘Defying Gravity’ to life for Mr. Big fans the world over: “We’re aware that we’re going to be playing this music onstage, and we’re no longer just going to be looking into each other’s eyes — we’re going to be looking into the eyes of the audience. We know our audience quite well, and we’re looking forward to seeing their reactions to the album.”
Torpey has the final word: “The title says it all: ‘Defying Gravity’. We’re still here, and we’re still keeping the ball rolling down that hill. We’re still doing it. The album has a positive message, and that’s what I like about it. We can still fly, even after all these years.”
Indeed, Mr. Big’s keen combination of their virtuosic nature with a DNA-infused sense of melody continues to enable listeners the ability to sing along to every word they hear. Not a lot of acts can do that as deftly as Mr. Big does, and ‘Defying Gravity’ finds this still-hungry band collectively leaning into it to push their music into new stratospheres. Climb aboard.
MR. BIG are:
Eric Martin – Vocals
Paul Gilbert – Guitar
Billy Sheehan- Bass
Pat Torpey- drums
with Matt Starr – drums
Produced by Kevin Elson
MR. BIG will release its ninth studio album, “Defying Gravity”, on July 7 via Frontiers Music Srl. The effort will be available at traditional retail and all digital
service providers, as will a deluxe edition version with CD and bonus DVD that features music videos and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the new album. The album will also be made available on vinyl in the coming months.
Matt Starr joined original members Eric Martin, Paul Gilbert, Billy Sheehan and Pat Torpey as well as producer Kevin Elson(who was behind the boards for the band’s 1989 self-titled debut, 1991’s “Lean Into It” and 1993’s “Bump Ahead”) for an intensive six-day recording session in Los Angeles. While Torpey was unable to perform on “Defying Gravity” due to a recent diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, Matt Starr has been filling in for him on a majority of the album. Starr also been touring with the band for the past couple of years, with Torpey able to play a couple of songs at each stop.
“We tracked 11 songs in 6 days. Everything was live. I really enjoyed the process,” says Starr. “It was really cool to work out the parts with Pat and then to have him be in the control room while we tracked, it was like having a dedicated Drum Producer. He did all the percussion, so then it was my turn to sit back and listen. The whole experience working with Pat and the band has been amazing. I’m grateful to have been included on the new record.”
As for gear, Starr says, “I played my Ludwig Legacy kit, 24, 14, 18, 20 with my 6.5 chrome over brass and black beauty snares. My Paiste cymbals were a combination of 20” & 18” 2002’s, and 15” 2002 sound edge or 14” RUDE hats, depending on the song and of course my 1976 22” 2002 china. For rides I either played a 24” 2002 ride or a 22” 2002 crash if I needed more wash. Heads were Evans coated G2’s on top, coated G1’s on bottom and heavyweight on the snare. I always use Canopus 42 stand snare wires, nothing sounds better.”
The band will embark on a world tour in support of the record starting out with a four week run in the US at the end of May. “2017 is filling up quickly with tour dates all around the world,” proclaims Paul Gilbert. “I can’t wait to play the newsongs, and, of course, our favorites from the old days, like ‘Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy’, ‘Just Take My Heart’, ‘Green Tinted Sixties Mind’, ‘Wild World’ and ‘To Be With You’.”
“Defying Gravity” track listing:
01. Open Your Eyes
02. Defying Gravity
03. Everybody Needs a Little Trouble
04. Damn I’m In Love Again
05. Mean To Me
06. Nothing Bad (About Feeling Good)
07. Forever And Back
08. She’s All Coming Back To Me Now
09. 1992
10. Nothing At All
11. Be Kind
Making-of “Defying Gravity” video:
Tour dates, Leg 1:
5/31 Milwaukee, WI Potowatami Casino
6/2 St. Charles, IL Arcada Theatre
6/3 Wetland, MI The Token Lounge
6/6 Warrendale, PA Jergel’s Rhythm Grille
6/7 Newton, NJ Newton Theatre
6/9 Uncasville, CT The Wolf Den/Mohegan Sun
6/10 New York, NY B.B. King Blues Club & Grill
6/12 Nashville, TN Basement East
6/14 Lexington, KY Manchester Music Hall
6/16 Dallas, TX Gas Monkey Live
6/17 Houston, TX Scout Bar
6/19 Kansas City, MO Knuckleheads Saloon
6/22 Tempe, AZ Marquee Theatre
6/23 Agoura Hills, CA Canyon Club
6/24 Pasadena, CA The Rose
“Defying Gravity” deftly showcases that patented MR. BIG blend of crunch and melody, from the freight-train ride of opening cut “Open Your Eyes” to the harmony-laden wonderment of “Damn I’m in Love Again” to the grateful/wistful nostalgia of “1992” (recalling the days when the band was flying high atop the singles charts with their international #1 smash “To Be With You”) to the barnburning slide-blues closer, “Be Kind.” Overall, “Defying Gravity” is prime evidence that the only thing MR. BIG remains tethered to is their ongoing pursuit of achieving creative excellence.
Original members Eric Martin (singer, lead vocals), Paul Gilbert (guitars), Billy Sheehan (bass) and Pat Torpey (drums) reunited with producer Kevin Elson(who was behind the boards for the band’s 1989 self-titled debut, 1991’s LEAN INTO IT and 1993’s BUMP AHEAD) for an intensive six-day recording session in Los Angeles. While Torpey was unable to perform some of the songs on “Defying Gravity” due to a recent diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, Matt Starr has been filling in for him on a majority of the album. Starr also been touring with the band for the past couple of years, with Torpey able to play a couple of songs at each stop.
“It was great to get back in the studio with our original producer, Kevin Elson,” says guitarist Paul Gilbert. “Kevin recorded all of our original classic albums from the ‘80s and ‘90s, and we immediately felt that magic chemistry with him on DEFYING GRAVITY. We basically played live in the studio. Over the years, we’ve all had a chance to experiment with every recording technique possible, but it’s still always the best just to play together as a band. Most of my guitar solos were tracked live with the band. I’ve worked hard on my improvisation in the last few years, and it really paid off on this record…both melodically, and on the face-melting stuff.”
“Defying Gravity” is the follow-up to 2014’s THE STORIES WE COULD TELL (Frontiers Music Srl), which Ultimate-Guitar.com described as “An exceptional offering of accelerated hard rock from one of the more dominant ‘supergroups’ of the late 1980s, MR. BIG return with a vengeance on THE STORIES WE COULD TELL.”
MR. BIG is gearing up for the launch their latest worldwide tour which starts May 31 in Milwaukee, WI at the Potowatami Casino. For all the latest tour dates, fans should check the band’s official website: http://www.mrbigsite.com
“2017 is filling up quickly with tour dates all around the world,” proclaims Gilbert. “I can’t wait to play the new songs, and of course our favorites from the old days like ‘Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy’ ‘Just Take My Heart,’ ‘Green Tinted Sixties Mind,’ ‘Wild World,’ and ‘To Be With You.’”
Here’s the complete track listing for DEFYING GRAVITY:
Open Your Eyes
Defying Gravity
Everybody Needs a Little Trouble
Damn I’m In Love Again
Mean to Me
Nothing Bad (About Feeling Good)
Forever and Back
She’s All Coming Back to Me Now
1992
Nothing At All
Be Kind
Check out MR. BIG at any of the following tour stops (MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED):
Leg 1:
5/31 Milwaukee, WI Potowatami Casino
6/2 St. Charles, IL Arcada Theatre
6/3 Wetland, MI The Token Lounge
6/6 Warrendale, PA Jergel’s Rhythm Grille
6/7 Newton, NJ Newton Theatre
6/9 Uncasville, CT The Wolf Den/Mohegan Sun
6/10 New York, NY B.B. King Blues Club & Grill
6/12 Nashville, TN Basement East
6/14 Lexington, KY Manchester Music Hall
6/16 Dallas, TX Gas Monkey Live
6/17 Houston, TX Scout Bar
6/19 Kansas City, MO Knuckleheads Saloon
6/22 Tempe, AZ Marquee Theatre
6/23 Agoura Hills, CA Canyon Club
6/24 Pasadena, CA The Rose
From platinum album sales and number one chart success as a founding member of MR. BIG, to frightening the guitar community with new levels of ferocious picking technique with shred-pioneers RACER X, to exploring punk, pop, classical, blues, jazz, and progressive instrumental styles in his solo career, PAUL GILBERT has recorded a massive amount of stunning guitar music, all while circling the globe to play sold-out arenas from Japan to Jakarta.
His newest record ‘I Can Destroy’ is released on May 27th on earMUSIC 2016 as CD Jewel and digital.
PAUL GILBERT’s style stands out for its rare combination of accuracy, creativity, and power – all which are balanced with PAUL’s sense of humor and pure love of music.
Although PAUL is best known for his work with MR. BIG and RACER X, he has also toured with Joe Satriani’s G3, played in a host of tribute concerts with legendary drummer Mike Portnoy, and been integral in the design of his signature Ibanez PGM and Fireman guitars.
PAUL’s legacy as a guitar instructor began when he was eighteen, when he was hired to teach at Hollywood’s Guitar Institute of Technology. His groundbreaking “Intense Rock” videos and DVDs have inspired legions of guitarists to improve their accuracy, speed, and phrasing. Years as a columnist for Guitar Player magazine, and most recently, Premier Guitar magazine, along with giving countless clinics, private lessons, and serving for five years as the dean of MI Japan, have given PAUL GILBERT deep experience in the art of communicating music to all levels of guitarists.
Over twenty-five years in the music business have only increased PAUL’s passion to explore the possibilities of music and the art of playing the guitar. Whether he’s playing to 10,000 fans or jamming one-on-one with a student, PAUL GILBERT is living his childhood dream of taking the sounds in his head and bringing them into reality – on the electric guitar.
‘I Can Destroy’ is PAUL’s next solo-masterpiece and will be his 18th solo album. The album features 13 very diverse rock-tunes. With Kevin Shirley producing, and an amazing band of Freddie Nelson and Tony Spinner on guitars and vocals, Kevin Chown on bass, and Thomas Lang on drums, PAUL rocks with more power and emotion than ever before.
‘I Can Destroy’ will be available on May 27th 2016 as CD Jewel and digital.
TRACKLIST
1. Everybody Use Your Goddamn Turn Signal
2. I Can Destroy
3. Knocking On a Locked Door
4. One Woman Too Many
5. Woman Stop
6. Gonna Make You Love Me
7. I Am Not the One (Who Wants To Be With You)
8. Blues Just Saving My Life
9. Make It (If We Try)
10. Love We Had
11. I Will Be Remembered
12. Adventure and Trouble
13. Great White Buffalo (Bonus Track)
Los Angeles Drummer, Singer and Producer Matt Starr(BURNING RAIN, featuring former WHITESNAKE guitarist Doug Aldrich, MONTROSE’s Keith St John and QUIET RIOT/DOKKEN’s Sean McNabb) who just recently toured with MR.BIG, has announced to be available for new recording projects:
“Hey Guys, I have some time in April to take on new recording projects. If you would like to discuss having me play on your record, just send me a message.”
Now you can have Matt’s powerful drumming on YOUR tracks. No matter where you are located, Matt can record your songs in a Los Angeles recording studio & send his live drum tracks to you online via the internet anywhere in the world.
Contact MATT via email: flames2010@aol.com
HOW IT WORKS
In 2015 online drum recording and sharing recording session files via the internet is a very common & simple thing to do. Send your files to our engineer via Dropbox or any internet file sharing site. Let Matt know what your artistic vision for the particluar track is & you will get back Matt’s live performance on your song recorded in a Los Angeles recording studio. That’s it! Use the link above to inquire about rates & Matt’s availability for drum tracks.
In the studio Matt has recorded with producers Jimmy Bralower (VP A&R Atlantic Records, Madonna, Mick Jagger, Joan Jett), Toby Wright (Metallica, Alice In Chains, Korn), Jim Ebert (Meredith Brooks, Toni Braxton, Butch Walker), Mike Chapman (Blondie, The Knack, The Sweet), Dave Bianco (AC/DC, Tom Petty, KISS), Anthony Focx (Aerosmith, Foreigner), Warren Huart (Aerosmith, The Fray) & others.
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 